Structural assembly



Sept."22, 1959 l, FR|END 2,905,514

STRUCTURAL ASSEMBLY Filed DBC. 17, 1957 ATTO/QNEVS United States Patent OfficeA STRUCTURAL ASSEMBLY Irvin Friend, Rockaway Park, N.Y., assignor to Ivy Furniture Inc., Long Island City, N.Y., a corporation of New York Application December 17, 1957, Serial No. 703,404:

8 Claims. (Cl. 311-104) This'invention involves a structural assembly of use in many elds, of which thel furniturey eld is an example.

A broad object of the invention is to provide; a novel structural assembly of elements which can be taken apart and put together easily, facilitating in the case of furniture, a knock-down construction.

A further object of this invention is to provide an arrangement of parts for interlocking three structural members together in an arrangement which can be easily taken apart if desired.

Other and more detailed objects of the invention will be apparent from the following disclosure of the embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings,

Figure l shows in perspective a table incorporating the structural assembly comprising this invention;

Figure 2 is a horizontal, cross-sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the upper end of one of the table legs;

Figure 4 is a perspective View of one end of one of the leg braces;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view similar to the view of Fig. 2, showing a modified construction employing the principles of this invention; and

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

In many elds of manufacture today it is common to construct devices or articles of easily assembled parts facilitating their packaging, transportation, assembly and disassembly, all to the end that the ultimate costs involved are minimized. A specific example of this lield of utility is in the furniture art where, for example, as illustrated in the drawings, a knock-down table construction is possible employing the assembly of this invention.

A table, by way of example, is shown comprising a top 10 of any suitable material having corner legs 12 attached to the underside of the table top in any suitable manner. These legs are cross braced by transverse and longitudinal struts which abut only and are interlocked with the table legs to form the assembly of this invention. A very important characteristic of this construction as will appear as the description proceeds is the very strong and rigid interlock connection which is effected between the braces and the legs.

The legs and braces, as illustrated, are preferably made of hollow tubes of suitable material such as metal, although it will be apparent later that the braces could be of solid material if desired. The legs 12 are preferably hollow and at a suitable point longitudinally thereof where processing is desired each leg is provided with a pair of openings 16 at a pair of adjacent faces. In the strongest form of construction these openings 16 are rectangular because the braces are rectangular in cross section, but this is not a necessary limitation.

The braces 14 are shown as tubes of rectangular cross section which are cut at the ends on a plane lying at an angle of 45 degrees to the longitudinal axes thereof.

2,905,514 Patented Sept. 2,2, v1.959

V A` pair of adjacent braces -14 are inserted in theadj'acent openings 16 so as to bring their inclined ends into abut-' ting4 relation to form a miter joint, as is clear from Fig. 2. In a Apreferred form of construction there is inserted in the legs 12' a seating member 20 which is of'generally L-shaped formation in cross section having short flanges thus formed the material of the braces is cutout asy shown;

at 18 to form curvalinear seats. V When. thebraces. arey in position, as shown in Fig. 2, these seats vform in 'combie nation continuous curved seats whichface. the adjacent. corner of the leg 12. The'braces are` locked4 in the leg, and on the seat 20 by driving aA dowel 22 into the enclosure. formed by the curved'` seats; 18, 19 andthe ad.-

jacent corner angle of the leg. A`'lhedowels can be inserted from either endv ofthe leg and can Vhave sulicient length so that they can be easily driven home to a resting position where the end of the dowel adjacent the end of the leg from which it is inserted can lie in 0r within the end plane of the leg. By making the dowel 22 of tight lit in the combined angular and curved seat thus provided it will be -seen that the ends of the braces Will be tightly bound against the seating member 20. The dowels 22 can be made of any suitable material but from a cost viewpoint a wooden dowel is entirely satisfactory.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the seating member 20 could be eliminated if apertures 16 are moved outwardly, Fig. 3, towards the adjacent oposite corners of the leg. The outer seats of the apertures could be brought right to these corners so that the braces at the miter joint would seat in a corner of the leg. It is also apparent that the horizontal width of the braces could be varied to change the dimensions of the seat even to the point of eliminating it as suggested above, and the dowel could be enlarged to meet these variations.

The same principle is applied in a rather diiierent form of assembly which is clearly illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. The leg construction and proportions and positioning of the apertures is the same as that shown in Fig. 3. The dimensions of the braces 14al are similar, but in this case the semicircular seats are on the outer angle of the miter joint, as shown at 18a. In this arrangement two dowels, one at each opposite corner of the leg adjacent the seats 18a or a single U-shaped dowel such as that at 24, can be driven into the pockets at the corners to lock the braces and leg together. It will be seen that any tendency to looseness can be eliminated with accompanying increase in rigidity by making the apertures 16 snug fitting with respect to the braces so that any tendency for rotational movement of the braces about the miter corner will be prevented.

For simplicity of construction and minimizing of costs it is preferable that the legs be tubular, but it is apparent that under some conditions they may be made solid, except from one end to the joint to permit insertion of the dowels. With regard to the braces, if they are made solid rather than tubular the bearing area at the seats 18 and ,18a will be substantially increased to form a still stronger joint.

From the above description it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the details of this invention could be varied considerably, some idea of the scope of variation is herein indicated. It is preferred, therefore, that the disclosure be taken in an illustrative sense. It is also apparent that this structural assembly of legs and braces is by way of application and that the furniture art is but one obviously useful lield for its use.

What is claimed is:

1. A structural assembly comprising a tubular mem- 3 ber having a pair of spaced apertures, a pair of struts extending through said apertures so as to expose their ends within said member, and a removable pin lying within said tubular member and engaging the exposed ends of said struts and said member for locking the parts rigidly together. y

T2.' In the combination of claim 1, said pin'frctionally engaging the exposed ends of said struts and the inner face of said member.

3. In the combination of claim 1, said struts abutting to form a miter corner and said pin tightly fitted between the struts at the corner and the inner face of said member. 4. In the combination of claim 1, said struts having seats formed on the Vexposed ends and said pin force fitted into said seats.

"5.;In'the combination of claim 1, the exposed ends of said struts meeting in a mitered joint and having seats formed at the inside of said joint, and said pin lying in said seats and engaging the inside of saidrmember.

' 6.In the combination of claim 1, means within said member opposite said ends forming a seat therefor and said pin forcing said ends against said seat.

7. In the combination of claim 1, said tubular member being square in cross section and said apertures being formed in a pair of adjacent faces, said struts having mitered abutment, and said pin jammed between said member and said ends,

8. In the combination of claim 1, the exposed ends of said struts meeting in a miter joint and having seats formed on theoutside of said joint and said pin lying in said seats andv engaging the inside of said member.

Y I References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,076,838 `okim oct. 2s, 1913 1,630,492 Kusterle May 31, 1927 1,694,656 Haenen Dec. 11, 192s 2,776,030 Bush Jan. 1, 1957 2,788,096 Franks Apr. 9, `1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 918,110 Germany Sept. 20, 1954 

